Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Acknowledged
BBC lacks fully developed evaluation framework for "Across the UK" benefits.
Conclusion
In November 2023, the NAO found that the BBC did not yet have a fully developed evaluation plan to assess its progress with implementing Across the UK and to capture the intended benefits. The NAO reported that at this stage of the programme it would have expected the BBC to now have a benefits management strategy and plan in place. Despite this, the BBC lacked a clear timetable for evaluation and had only recently established a budget for its evaluation activity. The NAO report set out that without a robust evaluation framework, the BBC would not be able capture the impact of its work, nor change course if needed.32 We therefore asked how the BBC could be confident that Across the UK worked and was delivering the outputs it intended when the BBC did not have an evaluation framework set up from the beginning. The BBC told us that it had long-term experience of delivering activity related to Across the UK, and of measuring its impact.33
Government Response Summary
The BBC has strengthened its management of programme benefits, including introducing a refreshed approach to programme management and has adapted its benefits tracking to produce a new integrated benefits tracker which provides a holistic view of benefits tracking for the program.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
5.2 The BBC has strengthened its management of programme benefits, including introducing a refreshed approach to programme management. The ATUK programme has adapted its benefits tracking to produce a new integrated benefits tracker which provides a holistic view of benefits tracking for the programme. It is also expanding its communication of programme benefits to audiences, creative and local stakeholders. 5.3 The majority of programme benefits have been tracked on a monthly basis. However from the outside the BBC was clear that the full audience and economic evaluation framework would be confirmed in Phase 2 of the programme. This is because the measurements and metrics are complex in their design and dependent on programming moved during Phase 1. Since Phase 2 commenced in April 2023, the BBC has approved full measurement frameworks for the audience and economic impact of the programme and shared them with the NAO as part of its VfM study.